It's Zip It Day On Google

Google is honoring the inventor of the modern zipper today with — what else? — a zipper running down the middle of its homepage. You can drag it up and down. When it finishes opening, it reveals a selection of links about the zipper and its inventor, Swedish-American Gideon Sundback. He was born 132 years ago today.

"Before Sundback's intervention, the idea for a fastener based on interlocking teeth had circulated among engineers for more than 20 years but no one had perfected it. His innovation was to place a dimple on the underside of each tooth and a nib on the top that would sit securely within the dimple of the tooth above it.

"As a result, the join between two rows of teeth was then strong because no single tooth has enough room to move up or down and come apart. He also created the manufacturing machine for the new zipper."